The Stone Council (2006)

In France, the single translator Diane Siprien adopts an Asian baby named Liu-San in a foundation directed by Sybille Weber. Years later, a weird mark appears on the boy's chest and Diane ... See full summary »

Director:

Guillaume Nicloux

Writers:

Stéphane Cabel, Jean-Christophe Grangé (novel)

Stars:

Monica Bellucci, Catherine Deneuve, Moritz Bleibtreu

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Monica Bellucci	...	Laura Siprien
Catherine Deneuve	...	Sybille Weber
Moritz Bleibtreu	...	Serguei Makov
Sami Bouajila	...	Lucas
Elsa Zylberstein	...	Clarisse
Nicolas Thau	...	Liu-San
Lorenzo Balducci	...	L'inspecteur Frank Neves
Nicolas Jouhet	...	L'inspecteur Langlois
Peter Bonke	...	Le docteur Vonkel
Tubtchine Bayaertu	...	Barsak Thalik
Laurent Grévill	...	Daguerre
Jerzy Rogulski	...	Le professeur Bruner
Yoshi Oida	...	Kamal
Nikolai Boldaev	...	Ayrag (as Nicolaï Boldaev)
Simona Maicanescu	...	La directrice de l'orphelinat

Storyline

In France, the single translator Diane Siprien adopts an Asian baby named Liu-San in a foundation directed by Sybille Weber. Years later, a weird mark appears on the boy's chest and Diane and Liu share their dreadful nightmares. Diane is assigned for a three-day job in German and she leaves Liu with her friend Sybille. However, while going to the airport, Diane finds Liu hidden in the backseat and startles with an eagle flying toward the windshield, crashing her car. Liu falls into a coma and his digital recorder records the boy speaking in an unknown dialect. When Diane searches the translation and the origins of Liu, she is surrounded by mysterious murders. She discovers that the dialect is from the mystic Mongolian Tseven tribe and that Liu is a powerful Observer; further, he is in danger, threatened by sorcerers that need the boy for their Council of the Stone.

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Plot Keywords:

boy | mongolia | murder | scientist | siberia | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Sophie Marceau was the first choice for the lead role that ended up with Monica Bellucci.

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Soundtracks

Let Me Go Lover
Written by Fred Wise, Kay Twomey, Jenny Lou Carson (as Jenny Carson) and Benjamin Wiseman
Performed by Dean Martin
©1954 Unichappell Music Inc.
Courtesy of EMI Music France and Warner Chappell Music France

User Reviews

Formulaic and boring...

This is a totally by-the-number supernatural thriller that cannot be saved by the aura of its lead, nor by the exotic locales.

Le concile de pierre tries hard to hit all the buttons. Tensed atmosphere, amazing locations, some adventurous bits and action... but the wide variety of situations is all poorly thought out and the execution is even worse.

It seems the filmmakers were also under the impression that just putting the beautiful Monica Bellucci on screen with a more neglected appearance than usual would turn an Oscar-worthy performance that would carry the film. It is not the case and although Bellucci does have the star power and presence to carry such a film, she turns out an average performance at best. As for the other actors, the performances are even worse, including Catherine Deneuve who goes through the motion and looks like she wanted to collect a paycheck and nothing more.

I'd give it a 3 but since some shots are pretty enough, I'll go for a 4.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France]

Country:

France Italy Germany

Language:

French English

Release Date:

15 November 2006 (France)

Also Known As:

A sziklatanács titka

Filming Locations:

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Roissy-en-France, Val-d'Oise, France

Box Office

Budget:

EUR22,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,486,909

Company Credits

Production Co:

UGC YM, Integral Film, Rai Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1